Ladder-making machine



P. BROMAN.

D LADDER MAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCI. 3I.,I9I9.

' Patented Aug. l5, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

, ml A P. BROMAN.

LADDER MAKING MACHINE'.

APPLlcAloN FILED oc1.3x,1919.

Patented Aug. l5, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

@y EZ?? deva??? @ra/Wai@ To all whom t may concern.

stares saraar PETER BROMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILIN'IS, ASSGNOR TO BROWN MFG? co., or criroaco, iLniiiois, .afcoeronarioi or rumors.

LADDERMAKING 'MACI-IINE.

Lacasse.

4Spcticaticn of Letters Patent.

y rai-eiaQaAiig. i5, ieee.

AApplication filed October 31, 1319. Serial No. 334,834.

Be it known that I, Pirrnn BROMAN, a citi- Zen of the United States.l residing at Chicago, in the county of `Coolr and State of i rungs made of angle iron with thev cords cut back in such a way as to form tynes which can be forced through the sides and clinched so that 'a firm attachment between the rung and side is obtained. v

Heretofore the method of making up this ladder has been to pound in the rungs one at a time by hand. The labor Inecessary :tc

rdo this is enormous and costly andthe ladder when finished is often out ofv true.

lt is an object of 'this invention to .pro-- vide va method of `and machine [for making a ladder of'several rungs ata single actuation of the machine.

This and other'objects which will appear from the following specification are accom*v plished by 'my invention, an embodiment of which is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a partial plan view showing the drive and the first press' with a section of a'laddei in place;

Fig'. 2 is a partial yrear side elevation of the same but showingtwo presses, and

F ig. 3 yis a section on the line '3-3 of yFig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a ladder before being assembled.

I 'have illustrated as an embodin'ient` of my invention, a machine having'a Vframe made up of upper horizontal rear and front angles 10 and 11 respectively, connected at the ends byl end angles 12, one-.end only-being shown, and supported by rear support angles 13, 14 and 15, and front support angles 13,

14a and 15a which are adapted to rest Aon the floor.

A countersliaft 16 is journaled in bearings' carried on cross members of the main frame and has journaled thereon arflywheel pulley 17' which is operatively connected' :by a

clutch, the mechanism of which will. late-r guide .forming ,part of `the main frame be explained and which has an'element '18 secured to the shaft 16 vand to the pinion i 19. This is meshedA with :the large gear .wheel 2O which is keyed on the main shaft 21 iwliich runs the entire length ofthe presses and is journaled in the bearingson 1 l the main frame.

"The presseswh'ich will now be ,described are lplaced -so as to 'fall at the points ,at

whichrungs are tobe placed Vin the ladder.

lf desired these presses could be made ad? justable along; the vframev so as to laccom? modate ladders of different rung spacing.

I have preferred, however, toshow them solidly held. These presses are all alike and each isdriven by acani 221lreyed on the shaft 21 and a cam roller 23 rotatably j mounted on a lever arm 24 fulcrumed- -on a pin25 on the' main frame, the lzopposite end-of the lever carrying'a pin :2G-on which. is mounted Ia link 27. n This linlris carried at .its forward end by V:agpin 28 in the Y block 29. yThis blOCkv s Slidably mountedon :a

and boltedthereto'.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that as the shaft 21 revolves, the bloclr29 will be slid forward and back along' the guide 30.

The pin 428 alsofcarries an arm fil-l1,hav`- ing a curved portion 31a anda slightlyinf clined portion 31bl adapted to contact the roller 32 which is rotatablaonthe lpin -3'3 andfcarrie'd on `the ybracket 34', the latterA being secured to the main frame .angle 10.*..

Thepin 28 also has hingedlyimountedthere I --on awbifurcated clampingarm 35 which ,has an upstaiid-inglear 36. A `bolt 37:.is placed through this ear and through the web of .the arm 31 and carries an adjusting v'nut 372, Vthereby `serving to form Va llimit to which the arms 3,1and Brcanfbe separated while -a'compressionispring 38 acts to v,keep

them separated.l

Each lsliding block 29 has secured `on` Vits .under surface :a flug 29a hingedly; carrying one end .B9 of. an adjustable link` 40 vby means of a pin 41. The'oppesitfe end-42l i of thislink is connected by means offapin l v'43 with a rocker arm 44 which is h ingedlyI pinned at 45 .to the stationary block 46, .which is secured tot-he main frame, and adjusta? bly positioned by screws 46a. The pin 4-5 also has hingedly mounted thereon,fa clamping arin 47 which has at its outer end alugv CII p Leashes having` a hole through which passes a bolt 4 8. The opposite end ot this bolt passes through a hole in the upper end all of the rocker arm all, and a nut L9 permits of adjustment thereon, while a spring tends to keep the members da and i? separated as far as the bolt i8 will permit.

rlhe lever arm 2d carries a follower 5l which is hingedly mounted on the pin 23a, the opposite bent end 5l@L of the follower being` pressed against the hub 22n of the cam by means ot a springl 52. The bent end oi' the follower is adapted to engage the pin 221 on the cam 22 so as to cause the lever arm 24 to be drawn back to the starting position following each pressing operation. ils shown in Fig. 3 the machine is in the position when the maximum pressure is exerted on "the ladder. is the cam 22. is turned the lever arm 24- together with the clamping elements will remain in the posi tion shown in Fig. 3 until the pin 22h strikes the bent end 51a of the follower 5l. ls the cam turns further the follower will be drawn with it retracting the lever arm 24- and releasing the press. rlhe complete operation of this press will later be e3;M plained.

The flywheel l? has a pin 52iL securely set in its hub and which is adapted to engage the pin 58 in the clutch element 18 to drive the clutch and the gear 19. This pin is slidable in a longitudinal hole in the clutc member and carries a` pin 53a which projects laterally through a slot in the periphery ot the clutch member. A spring 5a presses the pin 53 toward the flywheel.

A round pin 55 carried by the mairtrame has a square block 56 rotatable thereon which is hingedly mounted in a tanering` hole in the rocker arm 57 so that the rocker arm is free to rotate and to have a limited movement in a plane at right angles to the plane in which it normally rotates. rl spring` 58 is attached to the rocker arm and to the: trame, and lies diagonally so that it pulls downwardly and toward the flywheel the same time. A stop member is provided h aving a straight vertical Jrace 59 and a shoulder 60. A link 6l and a foot pedal 62 are provided to raise the roc-ker from its normal position wherein the tace 57 et the rocker arm 57 holds the pin 53 and hence holds the pin 53 in a retracted position, so that the clutch is disengaged. ll hen, however, it is desired to cause the clutch to engage to drive the machine, the operator pushes down on the i'oot pedal raisingl the rocker arm 57 until it reaches the shoulder 60 when the spring 58 dra s it toward the 'flywheel as shown in full lines in Fig. l, and allowing the pin 53 to be Yforced out by the spring into the path of the pin 52a. The flywheel is being,` continuously driven prefer ably by a belt.V

ln order to automatically disengage the clutch a sloping lug' 63 is placed on the gear 20 in the path. of the outer end 57h of the rocker arm. This merely forces the rocker arm back so that the spring can act to return it to ritsnormal position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. lhe normal position tor disengagement oit' course is when the block 29 is near the extreme outward end of' its throw.

rlhe operation of my ladder making mae chine is as follows: rlhe presses being in the normally open position with the blocks drawn back the full zunount, tl'ie wood side bars A, il. oit the ladder are placed in position with their en ls abuttin@v a stop at one end of the machine. The rungs B are placed in the holders Silwhich area bolted to the guides 30 but are so spaced that they pro vide the necessary end play. The latter parts are then loosely arranged in the position shown in Ll.

At this time the curved portion 3l@ oit the arm 81 is resting" on the roller and the clamping arms and 1li' are raised so to permit ol a ready insertion oft the side bars. The operator then steps on the 'toot pedal causing; the clutch to ge and drive the shaft 2l through the cams 22 to 'torce the block 29 toward the ladder elements. As it moves the arm 31h strikes the roller and raises forcing the chiimaingarm 35 down on the ladder side bar lThe point at which this occurs may be adjusted by means of the boltl 37 and nut 37a, and the force applied is varied by varying` the compression of the spring 38.

rlhe linlr i9 causes the clamping` arm 47 to act in a similar manner on the ladder side bar A. The rungs of this ladder preferably consist et angle iron having a recessed portion at each end thereby 'forming` a flat chisel portion B and a nail like point B2 at each end with an abutment B3 which acts as a stop. As the block 29 advances these prongs are forced through the side bars and are clinched by the hardened steel plates 29L as shown in Fig. 3 where the press has reached the limit ot its throw. As the shaft 2l continues to revolve, the block 29 is retracted, the clamping arm if? releasing before the clamping` arm 35, so that the assembled ladder is drawn back somewhat from the clamp Jl-7 so as to make it easier to remove.

lt will be understood, however, that this machine can with slight changes be adapted to the manufacture ott various kinds of ladders where the rungs are forced into the side bars, which may be made ot metal as well as of wood. y

rEhe screws loa may be set for diil'erent widths or" ladders. The link 4:0 must then be adjusted to correspond.

llilhile l have shown and described but a single embodiment or my invention, it isto be understood that it is capable of many modications. Changes therefore in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

What l claim as new and desire to vsecurev blocks and a cam shaft for movingsaid cams.

2. A machine for pressing metal rungs into side bars comprising relatively'movable plates adapted to press said side bars,means for relatively positioning the rungs and side bars, and means for forcing said plates toward each other, said latter means including a plurality of slida-ble blocks, a cam for moving each of said blocks and a cam shaft for moving said cams, a counter shaft and clutch associated therewith for driving `the cam shaft one revolution for each actuation of said clutch, and interconnected clamping means adapted to engage the tops of said side bars upon'the operation vo f thel cam mechanism.

3. A machine for making ladderspcomprising a frame, a series of pressesthereon and means for actuating said presses simultaneously to force the ladder rungs into the l side bars, meansfor actuating said presses and clamps associated therewith for holding the side bars in fixed position, one of said clamps being releasable before theother so that the ladder will be withdrawn from the other clamp as the press is released.

4i. A machine for making ladders, a frame, a series of presses thereon and means kfor actuating said presses simultaneously to force the ladder rungs into the side bars,

movable and stationary clamps associatedv f therewith for holding the side bars in fixed positiom the stationary clamps being releasable before the movable clamps so that the ladder will be withdrawn from the stationary clamps as thepress is released.

5. A machine. for pressingsteel ladderrungs. into ladder side rails comprisingl a frame,.a series of presses thereon, means for actuating said f presses simultaneously Vto force the ladder rungs into the side rails andr plates for clinching the ends of said rungs inthe side rails. v c METERv BROMAN. 

